CHORAL WORLD NEWS
Despite difficulties, many people have offered their assistance over the past 13 years, including professional conductors and music teachers from all parts of China who work with the ethnic choirs as volunteers. In collaboration with the “inheritors of traditional culture”, these volunteers experiment to find the right path forward in education.
a balance and let them find a better way to sing beautifully and hear each other. I had to discover a solution step by step. And each step might be an unexpected challenge. Despite this, I felt I had gained much more than I had given during my stay. I really appreciate this project!”
THE LONG PATH AHEAD IN EDUCATION
In the process of urbanization, rural areas become separated. Many children must remain at home with their grandparents while their parents work at jobs 1,000 kilometres away to provide better income for their families. The children often only meet their parents once a year at most. The younger generations in those areas have no option but to suffer increasing loneliness, sensitivity, lack of self-confidence and fear and insecurity. They make a great sacrifice for the sake of the country’s urbanization. At the same time, an increasing concentration of high-quality educational resources is found in big cities. To bridge this gap in child-fostering resources, Fly over the Rainbow carries a special mission. The Fly over the Rainbow volunteers are more than a group of famous teachers and conductors. The high-quality arts education they provide also serves as grounding for psychological self-improvement and healing of the heart through the intrinsic qualities of art. The conductor of the Shenzhen high school Lily Girls’ Choir, Ms Manxue Hu explained: “I began as a volunteer teacher in the Yunnan province in 2014. At the time, I found it quite difficult. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I should teach. Conducting class in the same way I taught in Shenzhen definitely didn’t work, but I also knew nothing about the local culture. What I could do was inspire them and let the process go at first, find 78
Aichai Children’s Choir “Fly over the Rainbow” (Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Wen Chuan, Si Chuan)
It was definitely a life-changing trip for Ms Hu. The project fascinated her, and she has continued to visit at least one ethnic choir every year since. In the process, some very precious things that might otherwise have been lost were regained: the blooming vitality of a person at the beginning of life, the heartfelt sense of music, the expression of a nation’s character in a way that could never be achieved through language. If you’ve known about the Lily Girls’ Choir, you will have noticed the choir has changed a lot in recent years. Not only is Ms Hu an active contributor, but she is also a beneficiary of the project. Those amazing works in shining performance by the Lily Girls on the international stage were inspired by her trips. Ms Manxue Hu has become one of the leaders on the Fly over the Rainbow artistic board, and she retains great enthusiasm for her career. For years, a lack of good works has plagued musical education in China. At the same time, thousands of good compositions remain hidden in the rural areas, destined to eventually to be lost. Fly over the Rainbow hosts a